Page 5 of Starting Our Chance

3 Loretta

Scrappy. That was theword I would use to describe Duke. In the week since I had come home, I learned so much about what the man who was once my inseparable friend had grown into, along with a few other heavy hitters in town. As I sat at my desk in front of my computer, I looked over my files on various investors. Everything Nikki had asked me to do had already been done. And now, I was snooping—something I had been doing every day since starting this job.

I’d found that Duke had risen to become someone in this town. The dirt poor boy I had once known was as rich as Croesus. He invested with Nikki, helping fund her larger projects, just like the apartment complex they were now renovating. The details of the project were burned into my brain. As a result, Nikki had deemed me fit to review the potential tenants for the building.

Being an accountant by trade, I found the personal management of interviewing tenants odd. However, I took to it like everything else I did—with fervor. And one week into my new job, my boss had given me the most precious gift: hope. What I saw when I looked at myself right now was a woman who had taken an opportunity in a small town and run with it. I’d realized that while I had been busy chasing an elusive future in a big city, I could have applied my skills here.

As I flicked through the web browser tabs, I thought about the circumstances that had brought me here. If I was going to reform myself, I knew what I needed to do: I had to work hard and make sure my name never got dragged through the mud down here. My name had been tarnished in the north, and I needed that buried if I was ever going to establish myself here. They say that you should never have regrets in life. Well, I wasn’t yet thirty, and I had a huge one: I fell for the wrong guy, and not only did I get my heart broken, but I also got royally screwed in the process.

Clicking out of the computer tabs, I started the backup process before rising from my chair. Taking firm steps, I walked to Nikki’s private office. She had avoided giving me a definitive answer as to my status at this company. I respected her hesitation, but I needed an answer.

“Nikki, I’m done for the evening. Is there anything else you need me to do before I clock out?” I poked my head across the threshold and looked at my petite boss in her jeans and black tee shirt.

“No, I think that gives us a good start to the weekend.” Nikki flicked her eyes over her iPhone as her fingers kept tapping away. Her laptop was already in its portable case on her desk. “Go clock out, and then let’s go get some drinks. We have celebrating to do, Girl!”

I froze, narrowing my eyes at her. “You want to go out? With me?”

“Um, yes . . ..” She became absorbed in her phone for a moment, then slapped the thing against her thigh. “This fucking shithead contractor is pissing me off, and I need a drink before I call him up and ream his ass.” Nikki slipped the phone in her back pocket as she reached for her purse, which she kept locked in a lower desk drawer. “Come on, move, Girl!”

“I’m confused,” I replied, slipping into my most neutral expression as I decided to flat out ask her as to my future at this company. After all, I’d given her a week’s performance.

But before I could get the words out of my mouth, Nikki blew out an exasperated breath of her own. “Oh, for fuck’s sake! I’m officially hiring you. Say ‘yes’ so we can go drown ourselves in cheap booze, and I can get the courage to deal with my newest headache.”

“Yes,” I blurted out, and my face split into a wide grin. “Yes, Nikki, I want to stay here, and I want this job!”

“Good. We’ll settle details later.” Nikki waved her hands at me to scoot, which I did.

This was it: my start. Or rather, my restart. I was scrappy. I was tenacious. And with the right leverage, I could fix my life. I might have made a few mistakes in my past, but that wasn’t stopping me from forging ahead. Celebrating the newest chapter of my life would be a healthy motivation.

Nikki came breezing into the front lobby, halting before my desk. Although I had ditched my Chanel pantsuit after the first day of work, realizing it wasn’t the place for it, I remained cute and preppy in my designer labeled jeans and boutique blouses. Nikki always wore the same rag-tag jeans and simple tees, and I didn’t want to look out of place here. I had realized right away that it was her over-the-moon personality that people saw when they looked at her.

If I could learn to come out from behind my stylish, top-shelf tastes, I might learn a thing or two. But for now, I had left my life in flames in the north—the bright side being that I had managed to bring my wardrobe back with me. And I wasn’t wasting the chance to dazzle in fashion.

“BABE, aren’t you ready yet?” Nikki demanded, her sharp glance taking me in. “You don’t have to impress me, I’ve seen enough this week to know that you are valuable—not to mention Duke’s shining recommendation to add to that fact.”

I dipped my head to hide the blush. He had done so much for me, but I hadn’t yet had the chance to thank him. I wasn’t sure how I felt about being around Duke again. It was a question that I was going to have to face now that I was staying in Waynesboro Parish. We had always danced around our feelings . . . but that was ages ago. Back then I hadn’t wanted to have anyone to tie me down here when I was so desperate to leave. So, I always kept him at arm’s length, kept my future before my feelings. The real question now was if he had moved on, and was I being silly for still liking him and holding out hope? Did he see what I had been, or what I had become?

“I can see that look, even behind the monitor,” Nikki snorted, pulling me from my thoughts.

“What look?” I raised a brow at her. “I’m almost done with the backup, then I’m done.”

“Good. I don’t wanna yell at you because we are going out for happy hour!” She bounced over and grabbed my hand. Her phone chimed, though, and she let me go to look at it. Typing out a message, she shook her head. “You are going to do shots with me because all my other fucking friends went and got knocked up, so you’re all I’ve got. The boss and employee line is erased right this second.”

“My budget for drinks is tight right now.”

Nikki frowned and cocked her head. “I knew there was something off about you. I don’t want to know your story, but you can’t even afford a buck-fifty shot of liquor?” She held up a hand. “I’m not asking why, I just want to know. Be straight here, are you broke?”

I bit my bottom lip and nodded.

“I can tell.” She hopped onto my desk; my pencil jar almost tipped, but I caught it. It was impossible to scowl at this pixie. “Look, I was in your shoes once. You hang with me, Girl, and I’ll make sure you get set straight. You work hard—I’ll teach you what I know. What you do with your life is your decision, but don’t be scared to let me in.”

I could cry. This woman gets me.

~*~

THE PLACE HADN’T CHANGEDa bit. Dim lighting, scarred wood desperately in need of staining, ages worth of dirt in the cracks of the floors—The Road House was the same as ever. I had only come here as a teen for the food since I had moved up north when I was seventeen. And although I had been back to visit Waynesboro Parish as an adult, I hadn’t been in this establishment on my quick visits. My mouth watered as I remembered that they had the best burger baskets in town, and their weekend brunch was to die for.

The music was already loud; the latest country hits were playing on the speakers. Nikki instantly started to move with the beat, not giving a fuck that she looked like a hen pecking at the dirt. The men-folk didn’t seem to mind, either. After a few rounds of shots, they flocked toward her, but although she danced her tight little ass off, she kept dodging them.

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